Bad News
Recap Worried that one of them is infertile, Lily and Marshall go visit a fertility doctor who turns out to be Barney's doppelganger. After a series of tests to prove he is not Barney, we find out Lily is not infertile. This leads to Marshall to doubt his ability to foster kids. Marshall returns to the doctor, and when he goes to take a fertility test of his own, he realizes that his own over-active imagination will not let him do the deed in the office. He goes home, thinking he can do things quickly, but he is surprised by his parents. After a tense moment, Marshall and Lily tell the Eriksens what is going on. Marshall's parents assure him that a grandchild is not the most important thing in the world. Later, Marshall gets news that he is fertile and healthy. At MacLaren's, Marshall calls his father, who does not answer. Lily meets him outside to tell him that Marvin Eriksen had a heart attack and didn't make it. Marshall hugs Lily and says "I'm not ready for this." Continuity *The Sensory-Deprivator 5000 from returned to allow Barney to stay in the room during Lily's pelvic exam. *Images of Robin from various previous episodes were shown: Falling in manure and saying inappropriate things on air ( ), Robin Sparkles clips ( , , and ), her time as a Japanese correspondent ( ), vomiting on air ( ), her bad makeup ( ), and Sandy suggesting he have sex with Robin ( ). *Marshall tells his dad about his Viking lamp. Marshall purchased one of four Viking lamps in (it is unclear how many of these lamps refer to the Minnesota team of which Marshall is a fan). Gallery :For a listing of all images on the wiki tagged as being from this episode, see Category:Bad News images. Memorable Quotes Marshall: "And everywhere; the kitchen, the bathroom, the livingroom, outside in your wai... the kitchen." Barney: "I'd give my first born to not being able to have children." Notes and Trivia Goofs and Errors Allusions and Outside References *The episode features the numbers 50 to 1 being either shown on the screen or, in the case of the number 5, spoken out loud. This is very reminiscent of the 1988 Peter Greenaway film Drowning by Numbers . Music Other Notes *Neil Patrick Harris will have his first dual role in this episode. Josh Radnor, Jason Segel, Alyson Hannigan and Colbie Smulders had dual roles in previous seasons as dopplegangers. *Throughout the episode, numbers appear on screen counting down from 50 until the climatic moment. That list can be found here: Bad News countdown. Guests *Bill Fagerbakke - Marvin Eriksen Sr. *Suzie Plakson - Judy Eriksen *Paul Schackman - Dr. Mitchell Friedman *Neil Patrick Harris - Dr. John Stangel *Artemis Pebdani - Anna *Alexis Denisof - Sandy Rivers *Matt Dwyer - Syd *Jay Brian Winnick - Ronald *Americus Abesamis - Chaz *Bill Suplee - Marty Reception References External Links *''Bad News'' Press release at CBS Press Express, Dec-13-2010. Retrieved 12-15-2010.